Kidge Week 2018
by Melodic Ascent
Summary: A collection of one-shots I wrote for Kidge week 2018, based on daily prompts.
1. Left and Right

Kidge week prompt 1: Shield and Sword

Title: Left and Right

Keith groaned as he rubbed his tender shoulder, making his way back to his room. Evidently, choosing to fight two gladiators at once wasn't a good idea. He figured he could get the practice in, learning how to win in a 2 on 1 fight. Evidently, he'd overestimated himself, and ended up having to end the training sequence automatically rather than defeating the gladiators

"Stupid robots," he mumbled. They had been smarter than he'd given them credit for.

"Hey, I, for one, think robots are pretty great," a deep but slightly feminine voice called from behind him. Keith turned around, spotting Pidge leaning against the wall.

"You heard me talking to myself…again."

"Please, I talk to myself way more. I find that I'm a great conversationalist."

"Somehow, I feel like you're a little biased on the matter."

Pidge shrugged, approaching Keith. "What did you do to your shoulder?"

"Tried to fight two gladiators. I, uh…"

"Got your butt kicked?"

"Hey, it's not even that bad. I'll be fine, and I can learn from my mistakes."

Pidge ran her hand along Keith's shoulder, missing the way his cheeks dusted with pink. "Take your shirt off," she demanded.

"What?!"

"I'm trying to get a better look at your shoulder, idiot. Take it off."

Reluctantly, Keith tossed his jacket to the floor and peeled his sweaty shirt off of his body. Pidge held her nose. "Please tell me you were on your way to shower…"

"I would be cleaning up now if I hadn't been stopped by a nosy Pidgeon."

Pidge kicked the back of his knee, causing him to drop to the floor, where she was at a better angle to examine his shoulder.

"What was that for?"

"I'm short. Also, I felt like it. You did call me nosy, after all."

Pidge ran her fingers gently over the welt that was forming on his shoulder. He'd just barely gotten the injury, and it was already swelling up. She knew it'd turn some nice colors later, and probably cause Keith quite a bit of pain over the next few days, but it was just a bruise regardless.

"Well, you're definitely gonna have a hard time sleeping for the next week. It doesn't look too bad yet, but trust me when I say it'll look like a unicorn threw up on you later."

"A unicorn? Seriously? What, you watch My Little Pony or something?"

Pidge smacked his head. "Yes. Insult me for it again, and I'll start poking the bruise. Besides, I'm pretty sure you'd be a Brony if you gave the show a chance."

Keith didn't say anything as he stood up, picking up the discarded clothes. "Whatever. Just let me go shower. My pride's already been hurt enough, I don't need you making it worse."

Pidge watched his retreating back, realizing she'd pushed him a little too far. She'd forgotten how sensitive he can be when he loses, even if it's just a training simulation.

"Wait," she called. Keith stopped. "What if…what if I helped you learn how to beat the gladiators?"

Keith turned around with a smirk on his face. "You? Help me beat the gladiators?"

"Did you forget who upgraded them? I'm the one who did their programming. I made them able to learn based on each paladin's fighting style. And I know how to find a flaw in any program, even the ones I made myself."

Keith sighed. "Tomorrow. Training deck. Five a.m. sharp. Don't be late."

Pidge gaped at him. "Five? Seriously? That's way too early…"

"You wanted to help, right? Well, you'll have to get on my schedule."

Pidge threw the alarm clock across the room. 4:30 was way too early for _anybody_ to be awake, much less a night-owl tech genius. She _could_ have gone to bed earlier than usual, but that required too much work. In the end, she'd only gotten a couple hours of sleep.

Unfortunately, she was smart and had designed the alarm clock specifically for herself. When she threw it, it only blared louder. She pulled her pillow over her head, groaning. "If I collapse during training, it's Keith's fault."

She wiggled out of her blanket cocoon and shut off the alarm. The lights turned on at the motion, and Pidge squinted, groping almost blindly for Matt's glasses. She gave up and just got dressed before sliding into the hallway, only to be greeted with darkness once more.

Pidge rubbed her eyes, noting how strange it felt to not be wearing glasses. Sure, the lenses were fake (Matt had replaced them right after he got his eyes fixed, so when he gave them to Pidge, they wouldn't hurt her eyes), but they at least felt natural.

It took her a while to reach the training deck after she left the bathroom. Keith was already there, wide awake and already in his armor. "'bout time you got here, slacker. Suit up and meet me inside."

Pidge glared up at Keith, grinning when she got a terrified expression out of him.

The Castle of Lions had been designed with the paladins in mind, or at least modified to be that way. The armor the paladins wore was able to move through various ducts throughout the ship so as to be available in various locations, such as the hangars, the armory, and the training deck. Pidge summoned the green armor, waited a few seconds for it to reach her, and pulled on the various different pieces. She ran out to the main training area, where Keith was waiting for her, Bayard drawn.

"Shall we get started?"

Pidge dropped to the ground breathing heavily. She wasn't used to so much physical activity, and so far they'd only been working with _one_ gladiator. Keith reached out a hand to her, helping her back to her feet.

"Jeez, you're so tiny. I could lift you with one arm." Next thing Keith knew, he was on the ground, his body feeling weird from the electrical shock Pidge had given him.

"Don't call me tiny."

"Why don't you use that on the gladiators? Or on any sentries, for that matter?"

Pidge looked down at her Bayard. "See, with robots, the electricity has a chance of doing absolutely nothing, even powering them up more. Sure, there's a chance I could short-circuit them, but for the most part that's a risk I don't want to take, so I only use the electricity setting on living things."

Keith paused for a moment, then grinned. "I think I have an idea."

Pidge lit up with excitement. "You know, I do too."

"Ready?" Keith asked, looking over his shoulder. 

"Ready," Pidge responded.

"Activate double gladiator."

Two gladiators rose out of the ground, one in front of Keith and one in front of Pidge. They stood back to back, slowly circling each other. They'd talked about their strategy, and they had both agreed it would be best to let the gladiators strike first.

"Shield!" Keith yelled, and Pidge jumped in front of him, shields on both arms, blocking the attack from the gladiator.

"Sword!" Pidge called, and they switched again, Pidge blocking an attack from the second while Keith took care of the first.

Back and forth they went, switching from defense to offense. Pidge kept both shields activated, occasionally having to block two strikes at once while Keith ducked down and struck from below. Finally, one of the gladiators went down, and it was only a matter of moments before the second one followed. The training sequence ended and the two paladins lay on their backs, breathing heavily.

"The arms of Voltron. I can't believe I didn't think of that sooner," Keith said through deep breaths.

Pidge sat up, taking off her helmet and tossing it across the room, her sweat-drenched hair matted to her head. Her cheeks were flushed. She reached into her pocket for Matt's glasses but remembered that she'd left them behind. "You just…needed…my help…"

"You were just waiting for me to figure it out, weren't you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Yesterday you said you had an idea. But today we started from scratch. Were you just waiting for me to figure it out?"

Pidge smirked. "Sort of. I figured it would take two people to fight two gladiators, and that we'd have to come up with something…unusual in order to beat them. I didn't have the fine details down until you did."

Keith tossed his own helmet away, and Pidge was glad her cheeks were already flushed because somehow, the sweat made him look even more handsome than he normally was.

Yes, she admitted it, she found Keith to be quite attractive.

And their current situation certainly wasn't helping.

Keith turned and his eyes locked on Pidge's. For a moment, neither said anything.

And as their lips met, the training deck, the castle, Voltron, all of it melted away. It was just them. Two halves of the same whole. Yin and Yang. Sword and shield. Green and red. Left and right.


	2. Not My thing

Prompt: Fashion

Title: Not My Thing

Pidge groaned. "Do I have to?"

"It's a ball, Pidge, you should be wearing something formal," Lance said as he looked through coupons for different clothing department stores at the space mall.

"Wearing a dress isn't the problem. It's shopping for a dress. Dress shopping is so…ugh. Most dresses are a pain to wear, and a pain to put on. Do you know how hard it is to find comfortable dresses? Because I do. It's so annoying that-"

Keith placed a hand on her lap. "You'll be fine, Pidge. I'll be there to help you."

Lance's eyes widened. "Oh no. As much as you're an amazing boyfriend for offering to help, you have absolutely no sense of fashion. I mean, look at that jacket! It only goes halfway down your torso! Who on Earth designed that?"

Pidge laughed as Keith's face reddened.

"Hey, I might not be able to pick out clothes for myself, but I think I can help my girlfriend."

"Regardless, I'm going with you."

And with that, the three paladins found themselves at a store with a name none of them could pronounce in the middle of the space mall.

"You think we can get more video games while we're here?" Pidge asked, bored out of her mind as Lance moved from rack to rack pulling out dresses.

"This is dress shopping, Pidge," he replied, not looking away from his work. "This could take all day."

She groaned. "Seriously? I don't have time for this, I'll just wear the first dress you picked."

Lance gasped. "Never! No friend of mine is going shopping without the feeling of freedom one feels from trying on different outfits!"

After another few minutes of searching, with Keith sitting in a corner playing with his knife, Pidge found herself in a dressing room with a huge pile of dresses. It was more than a little overwhelming.

Sighing, Pidge undressed, deciding to just try on the first dress in the pile.

"You look amazing!" Lance cried, clapping his hands together.

Pidge kept her hands over her chest. "I don't feel comfortable wearing something so…revealing."

Keith refused to make eye contact, his red face saying more than words ever could.

So it went with many of the dresses Lance had picked. After the first dress, Pidge refused to even show the boys what she was wearing unless she was covered enough.

"Come on," Lance said, nudging Keith. "You know you liked that first one."

Keith shoved him away, his face still red. "Dude, knock it off. Pidge isn't that kind of girl."

"Awww, so protective," Lance said, putting a hand on his heart and batting his eyelashes.

Keith rolled his eyes. "I'm gonna see if I can find something else for her to wear."

Lance shook his head. "I'm telling you, there's no way you'll be able to find anything, mullet. You have no sense of fashion."

"Maybe not guys fashion, but maybe I can find something that will look nice on Pidge."

"Where did Keith go?" Pidge asked as she stepped out in her next dress. She pulled at the sleeves, which were clearly causing her discomfort. "Stupid elastic, it's too tight on the bicep."

"To be fair, you have more bicep than most girls your size. Keith went to find another dress for you, but I don't see why." Lance looked past her. "You've still got a bunch to try on. Back in you go." He pushed her in and shut the door.

"Lance, I swear, when this is done, I'm wringing your neck."

"A necessary sacrifice."

Keith looked through the racks of dresses, shocked at how many low-cut gowns he found. How was he supposed to find a dress for Pidge when all that was available was this garbage?

He shoved his hands in his pockets, frustrated at his lack of success. He started wandering aimlessly, hoping that something somewhere would eventually catch his eye.

"Pidge, it's been ten minutes since I last saw you. What's the holdup?"

Pidge looked in the mirror. She was starting to think that none of these dresses would look good on her.

It was the first time in ages that she'd worn anything that would give her a feminine look. She wasn't used to certain areas of her body actually being visible. Not to mention she'd been in space for a while, and she'd grown up a bit.

Maybe it was the growing up that was making her feel self-conscious about her looks in the first place.

"Pidge?"

She sighed. "I'll be out in a sec, Lance, just let me finish lacing this one."

Keith felt like he'd been wandering for hours. In reality, it had only been a few minutes, but the store was pretty big.

He was about to head back to the dressing rooms when something caught his eye.

It was the color that got his attention first. Upon further examination of the dress, he smiled.

This was what he'd been looking for.

"I can't believe you tried on every dress and didn't like a single one!"

Pidge scowled. "Let's just get out of here. I'll figure out something else to wear to the ball."

"Wait!" Keith called, pushing through clothes racks and receiving glares from the clerks. "Here," he said, handing Pidge the dress in his arms.

She looked down at it skeptically. "Keith, I'm sick of trying on dresses."

He looked at her. "Just, one more? For me?"

She sighed. "Just this one."

"AAAAAHHHHHHHH! You look amazing!"

Lance's voice was high and annoying, and both Pidge and Keith winced. Keith smiled. "As annoying as that is, he's right. You do look amazing."

Pidge returned the smile. "I feel amazing, too. Not only is the dress comfortable, but…it reminds me of home."

Keith looked at Lance with pride. "Looks like I do know a thing or two about fashion."

Lance snorted. "Please. The only reason that worked is that neither of you understands fashion. You're perfect for each other."

Keith looked back at Pidge and they both laughed. "Yeah, I guess we are."


	3. Shortie Squad

Prompt: Adore

Title: Shortie Squad

Note: So, I decided to get a little creative on this one. I was lost for something to do with the word "adore," so I chose to change it up: Adorable. Thus, this fic takes place with Keith and Pidge as kids: old enough to have crushes, but too young to actually understand what a crush is. Oh, and it's AU.

"Come on, Katie, I need one more person on my basketball team to make it even!"

Katie looked up from her book. Lance was holding a basketball under his arm, a pleading look in his eyes. Katie just shook her head.

"I'm too small to play, Lance. I can't throw the ball high enough to get it in the hoop. Besides, I think basketball is a waste of time."

Aghast, Lance turned around to find somebody else to play on his team.

"You can't throw the ball that high either, huh?"

Katie looked around for the unfamiliar voice before a small hand tapped her shoulder. She turned around to see a boy with dark hair and deep purple eyes, wearing a red Lightning McQueen T-shirt and black shorts. He was about her height, to her surprise. Most boys her age were taller than her. The girls too, come to think of it.

That was how it worked in third grade. Everybody was about the same height, except for Katie, because she was just short. She blamed her grandma, who was never any taller than 5 feet in her life. It was just Katie's luck that she'd inherited the shortness gene.

So she was shocked to find a boy at her eye level, and she could tell he felt the same. He smiled and held out his hand to her. "I'm Akira. Keith for short. We shorties gotta stick together, right?"

Katie returned the smile. "I'm Katie. It's short for Katelyn."

"So we're shorties in two ways: in height, and in our names!"

The two laughed and walked away from the basketball courts.

"But you know," Keith said, "Katie is the same length as Katelyn. You should think about getting a shorter nickname."

"Like what?"

Suddenly, Katie froze. Keith looked at her, his mouth agape. She stood completely still, feeling the feet on her head.

"Keith," she whispered, "do you know what kind of bird it is?"

He tapped his chin thoughtfully. "I think it's a pigeon. Do you want me to get it off?"

Before either kid could do anything, the bird flew away once again.

"That's it!" Keith yelled. "I'll call you Pidge!"

Katie looked at him incredulously. "Pidge? Really? What kind of nickname is that?"

Keith shrugged. "You had a pigeon on your head, and I figured I can't call you pigeon since that's two syllables too. So I shortened it to Pidge."

Katie thought for a moment. "Pidge. You know, I kinda like it."

The two eventually found themselves on the swings, the shorter ones that were a bit lower to the ground than the rest; the ones generally taken by first graders.

"So what are we gonna call ourselves?" Keith asked as they swung side by side.

"What do you mean?"

"We need, like, a team name or something."

"What about Shortie Squad?"

"What's a squad?"

"It's just another name for group or team. It starts with an 's' like shortie, so it sounds cool."

"Shortie Squad it is. Hey Pidge, who's your teacher?"

"I have Mrs. Jenkins."

Keith put his feet down and stopped swinging, Pidge following suit. "Are you serious?"

"What?"

"How do we have the same teacher, but we don't know each other?"

"Oh, I knew you were in my class, I just didn't know your name until today."

"You know, Pidge, you're pretty smart. In a good way, I mean. You see things that normal people don't see. You're really good at paying attention to stuff."

Pidge wasn't really sure what to think of what he was saying. Of course, she was a great student, and she always had good grades. But a lot of times when kids called her smart, it was in more of a teasing manner. Keith had said it like a…what was the word…compilement? No, wait, compliment. Keith had given her…

"A compliment."

"What?"

"You…gave me a compliment."

Keith looked confused. "I didn't give you anything."

"A compliment is a nice word or some nice words. It's when you say something nice to somebody, and you really mean it."

"Oh. Yeah, then I guess I did give you one of those. Why is that so weird?"

Pidge shrugged. "People…don't usually say nice things to me."

Keith made a grumpy face. "That's dumb. You're nice and fun. Anybody who says anything mean to you is stupid."

Pidge gasped. "We're not supposed to say the s-word."

They both laughed at the ridiculous rule. Pidge's laughter was interrupted by firm hands on her back, pushing her high on the swing. She reflexively gripped the chains tighter, her heart falling into her stomach at the sudden height she was achieving.

"Little Katie is lookin' short. Why don't we give her some extra…um…tallness?"

She recognized that voice. "L-Lotor! Please, stop!" She tried not to cry as she held on for dear life, being pushed higher and higher.

"Leave her alone!"

Pidge couldn't see what was going on, but she was shocked to hear Keith's voice at her defense.

"Oh? Or what, pipsqueak?"

"I'll…I'll tell a teacher!"

"Oh, I'm sooo scared. Go away. There's nothing you can do to help your little girlfriend."

Keith twitched. Something about the word "little" got on his nerves. He could worry about "girlfriend" later, since as far as he was concerned, Pidge was a girl and his friend.

But little? Nobody called him little.

Pidge heard a scream, then crying. Then she felt somebody grab the chain below her right hand and slow her down. She slipped out of the swing when she was close enough to the ground and sat down, happy to be out of the swing.

Keith sat next to her. He was holding one of his hands gingerly. Pidge followed his line of sight to see Lotor, sitting on the ground and crying, his hands pressed against his eye.

"You…you punched Lotor."

Keith smirked. "It was nothing. It hurt a little, though. He's got a thick skull."

Pidge hugged Keith, finally letting a tear fall. "Thank you, Keith. You're my hero."

"It's like I said, we shorties gotta stick together." He held his good fist out to her. "Shortie squad?"

"Shortie squad," she said, hitting his fist with her own.


	4. If I Could Tell Her

Keith's face flushed as Lance laughed. "You? A musician?"

"Keep it down, man, I don't want this getting out," Keith shushed.

"How did you even manage to get a guitar out here in space?"

"The Blade of Marmora travels everywhere. During my downtime, I paid a visit to the Space Mall and found this in the Earth shop. My dad taught me how to play years ago."

Lance snorted. "Whatever. Hey, since you're supposedly a musician, do you write songs?"

Keith shrugged. "Sort of. I haven't written a full song myself, but I like to personalize existing songs."

Lance sat back. "Well? Go ahead."

Keith flushed again. "See…the thing is…"

Lance grinned. "I know that face. You're thinking about her again, aren't you?"

Keith gaped at him. "How…what…"

Lance laughed. "You're so obvious about it. The way you look at her, the way you've recently taken an interest in technology. Heck, your guitar pick is green."

"That doesn't prove anything-"

"And now you're trying to hide the fact that most of these songs are about her."

"Okay, there was no way for you to know that."

Lance held up a little notebook and Keith sighed. "Give that back please…"

Lance flipped through the pages. "I like this one the best. Sing it for me, I want to see if what you say about you being a musician is true."

Keith took the book and looked at the page. "If I Could Tell Her," he read, smiling. "It's a parody of the song of the same name from the musical 'Dear Evan Hansen.'"

"You like musicals?"

"Shut up. Just let me play the song."

Keith strummed a few chords on his guitar to check the tuning, then started into the song.

 _I know  
There's nothing like you're smile  
Sort of subtle  
And perfect  
And real_

"Oh my gosh, you really can sing," Lance said in awe. Keith shook his head and kept playing.

 _I know  
You'll never know how wonderful  
That smile could make someone feel_

Lance put his hand on his heart and let out an "Awwww!"

"I could do without the commentary, you know."

"What purpose do I serve if I don't mess with you?"

 _I know  
Whenever you get bored  
You change the specs on the castle ship_

"Wait, she does? Is that why the gladiator sometimes runs aimlessly in circles instead of fighting?"

Keith laughed. "I can't believe you didn't know that."

 _I know  
That you still climb in the vents  
Because it's quiet and only you fit_

 _But I keep these thoughts  
Inside my head  
What I see  
I leave unsaid_

 _And though I want to  
I cannot talk to you  
I cannot find the way_

 _But I will always say_

"Dude, I love the buildup to the chorus!"

"Kinda pointless if you interrupt right before I start the chorus…"

"Right, right, sorry."

 _If I could tell her  
Tell her everything I see  
If I could tell her  
How she's everything to me_

 _But we're a million worlds apart  
And I don't know how I would even start  
If I could tell her  
If I could tell her._

Lance clapped. "I'm actually impressed for once, mullet! You should totally sing this to her someday!"

Keith blanched. "Did you miss the song? I can't tell her any of this!"

"You said you couldn't find the way, well there's your way!"

"The answer's no, Lance."

Lance huffed in defeat as Keith began on the second verse.

 _I think  
You look pretty cool when you are  
Working to help out the team._

 _And I wonder  
How you learned to hack  
Like there's nobody to stop little green._

Lance laughed again. "Little green? I don't think she'll appreciate you calling her that."

Keith shrugged. "Like I said, she'll never hear this song, so it doesn't matter."

 _But I keep these thoughts  
Inside my head  
What I see  
I leave unsaid_

 _If I could tell her  
Tell her everything I see  
If I could tell her  
How she's everything to me_

 _But we're a million worlds apart  
And I don't know how I would even start  
If I could tell her  
If I could tell her._

"Ooh, a key change!" Lance clapped in excitement, and Keith rolled his eyes.

 _But what do you do when there's this great divide  
You just seem so far away  
And what do you do when the distance is too wide?  
And how do I say?_

 _I love you_

 _I love you_

 _I love you_

 _I love you_

 _But we're a million worlds apart  
And I don't know how I would even start  
If I could tell her  
If I could_

Lance wiped away a tear at the sad ending. "I had you all wrong, Mullet."

"Thanks La-"

"Turns out you do have a heart."

Keith kicked him in the shin, which only made him laugh.

Suddenly, there was a creak from the overhead vents, then a crash. A small, green figure fell, yelling in distress. She landed on Lance, who, to be honest, deserved it.

Pidge and Keith just looked at each other, faces bright red.

"How…how long were you up there?"

Pidge smiled. "I heard the whole song."


	5. Full Dive: Reference

Prompt: Games

Okay, so this one's a bit different since I decided to write a multi-chapter fic. Refer to my other work, "Full Dive," for the fulfillment of this prompt.


	6. Fortunes

Prompt: Soulmate

Title: Fortunes

Note: Sorry for this being so late, but it's technically still Friday here, so I'm alright. I was working all day, and it's finals week. I have other stuff on my mind.

"Are you sure about this?" Pidge asked, looking at the planet worriedly.

"Aw, c'mon, Pidge," Lance asked, "don't you want to know your fortune?"

"I kinda prefer to let the future play out on its own. Knowing what's coming ruins the fun of it, you know?"

"Whatever."

"Alright, settle down, you two," Shiro chided. "Remember, we have diplomatic business here too. The fortune thing's just an added bonus that you guys are lucky to have the opportunity to participate in."

"So that's why we're bringing Voltron instead of the castle?" Hunk asked.

"Yes," Allura answered. "People are inspired by the sight of Voltron. This planet could become the next member of the coalition. The Blade of Marmora will be meeting us there as well."

Pidge lit up. "Keith's gonna be there?"

Lance laughed. "You sure are excited to see him. What, you got a crush on him or something?"

"What? No, It's just been a while since he last visited. Last time we saw him was when he introduced us to his mom, and that was months ago."

"Suuuure, I'll believe that when you two aren't hiding in an alley making out."

"Lance!" Shiro's voice made Lance wince.

"Okay, sorry."

"We're landing now. Prepare to dock."

The rest of the day was rather boring. The big diplomatic meeting was going to take place the next day, but Allura had insisted that sightseeing wait until after the meeting was over. As a result, the paladins were confined to the extravagant palace.

In a way, this place reminded Pidge of Agrabah, specifically the way it looks in Disney's Aladdin. The palace, while looking extremely different, had many similar architectural design choices incorporated into it, such as the towers topped by what appeared to be golden Hershey kisses. However, that's where the similarities ended.

The people native to the planet were bipedal, but each person had four arms. They were a bit taller than humans, mostly due to their torsos. They had rather short, stubby legs, and long pointed tails similar to lizards that dragged loosely behind them. They also each had three eyes. It appeared that for the most part, the eyes were all different colors.

Pidge watched as the people bustled about in the streets below, wishing she could look around and learn about those that inhabited this intriguing planet. Alas, she was stuck indoors.

"Maybe we should go for a flight on a magic carpet?"

Pidge turned around to see Keith standing in the doorway. "Are you supposed to be my street-rat prince?"

"Street rat, yes, prince, no."

"And I'm certainly no Princess Jasmine."

"Nah, that's Allura's job. Though, you can sing better than her."

Pidge paled. "How did you-"

"Matt told me first, then I overheard you just now. You were singing softly while you looked out the window."

Pidge hadn't even noticed she was doing it. "I-"

"Voltron Paladins and Blade of Marmora representatives, please prepare for the meeting!" A servant made their way through the halls, repeating that phrase and knocking on doors as he went.

"Guess we should get down there." Keith seemed disappointed to have their conversation interrupted. Pidge, on the other hand, was relieved to have the teasing stop.

The meeting was boring. Allura did most of the talking, Shiro doing the rest. Pidge almost dozed off a couple of times and turned to distracting herself with pong, which she'd installed on her armor so only she could see the screen and make movements based on slight indications with her fingers. Nobody even noticed she was playing a game.

Eventually, the meeting ended and all the paladins turned in for the night.

"Come on, Pidge, get up!" Pidge threw her pillow at Lance, who caught it and threw it right back. "Come on, we're gonna go see that fortune teller!"

"Fine, just get out so I can change," Pidge grumbled, sitting up and yawning.

Ten minutes later, Lance, Hunk, Keith, and Pidge were making their way down the streets to the market where the alleged fortune teller was.

"This planet has become famous because of its fortune tellers," Pidge explained to Keith as they walked. "The one we're going to just happens to be the closest, but in reality, they're all over the planet."

The paladins entered a large tent. A few of the natives were present, but otherwise, it was empty. "I thought it'd be more crowded," Lance observed, looking around.

"I guess if the people are used to having their fortunes told, they don't spend a whole lot of time here," Pidge thought aloud.

"I hear new voices." The voice they heard was feminine, low and rich. A woman walked through a curtain. She wore different kinds of jewelry and had both pairs of hands folded in front of her. Her loose clothes seemed to carry an air of authority. She walked upright with amazing posture and appeared to almost glide across the floor. "What can I do for you, paladins and former paladin?"

"Woah, how'd you know that?" Lance asked. Pidge sighed as the woman chuckled.

"You're the only humans around, dear. Of course I know who you are. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Lady Hishalam. Now, if all of you will have a seat, I'll talk to the green paladin first."

"Me?" Pidge was mildly surprised at being asked to go first.

"Yes, young lady, you. Now, if you'll follow me…" Hishalam turned and walked back the way she came, Pidge following skeptically behind her.

"Have a seat, child." Pidge sat cross-legged on a little pillow. The lights in the room dimmed, and Pidge felt the pillow begin to hover. She reached downward, but the floor was out of reach now.

"Don't panic. I can assure you, you're safe." Soon, it was completely dark. Pidge gripped the edges of the pillow.

"You have to relax, dear, or none of this will work. Now, I want you to envision something. Anything."

Pidge took a deep breath and let go of the pillow, letting herself relax. Then, she pictured her family.

To her surprise, the image materialized in front of her, as though it were being projected by something. It reminded her of the headsets back at the castle, except she wasn't wearing one.

"Your family. They're very important to you. It's a good thing you found your dad and brother, and I can see that you're relieved to know that they're both alive and well."

Pidge still had her doubts. Word could have easily spread about her adventures. There was no way to prove this woman could tell her-

"Fortune? I assure you, I can do much more than that."

"How did you-"

"Not only are you projecting a visual image of your thoughts, but I can also hear the words you are thinking. Go on, try it."

Pidge picked a number.

"16,239." Hishalam sounded calm and confident.

"My gosh…" Pidge mused, a grin forming on her face.

"Now, to get to the future part." Pidge watched the image change. She was taken aback when she was greeted with an image of Keith in his red paladin armor, smiling. "Under normal circumstances, I let love happen on its own. However, it's clear to me that both you and your soulmate need a push in the right direction."

"S-soulmate?" Pidge asked. She wished she could say she was glad for the darkness, as it would hide her blush, but she knew she couldn't hide anything from Hishalam.

"You don't sound too opposed to the idea. Might you already have feelings for him?"

"Well, I mean, he's a great friend, and he's pretty handsome, and I guess he's super heroic and cares a lot about protecting the universe and-"

"So the answer's yes."

Pidge sighed. "Yeah, I suppose I have a little bit of a crush on Keith."

Hishalam chuckled. "Telling him about these feelings can wait. The universe will bring you two together, one way or another. Seeing as you paladins will win the war, you'll have plenty of time to get to know each other better soon."

Pidge nodded, and she couldn't stop the smile from creeping onto her face. Soulmate. Keith was her soulmate.

Pidge felt herself land back on the floor, and light returned to the room. "Send in that young man. I think it's time I talk to him as well."

Pidge did as she was told, and soon, Keith was sitting in her place.

"My, you are a handsome one, aren't you?" Keith looked around, but couldn't see Hishalam anywhere. The lights dimmed, and he felt like he was floating.

An image of Pidge appeared in front of him. "Tell me, dear, what do you think of the green paladin? And don't think I won't know the truth. Thoughts speak louder than voices."

Keith smiled. "If I'm being honest, Pidge is the coolest girl I know. Breaking into the garrison just to find information on her family, then going undercover to continue her research? Building her own equipment to listen to space? Taking off into oblivion without a second thought? Oh, and that time she took back the castle from Sendak single-handedly?

"Lady Hishalam, I fell in love with Pidge a long time ago, early on in our journey to defend the universe. Those feelings haven't changed one bit."

"Then I trust you to act on those feelings. It would be a mistake to let your soulmate go. That being said, I don't want you to rush anything. You'll know when the time is right."

With that short interaction, Keith was sent to get Lance.


	7. One Small Step

Prompt: Conspiracy theories

Title: One Small Step

"Paladins, I have some good news for you!"

Pidge looked up from her video chat with Keith as Allura entered the room. "Is that Allura?" he asked, moving around as though he'd be able to see anything different if he changed his position, to which Pidge just laughed.

"Oh, good, you've got Keith on the line. This concerns him as well. We'll be stopping by Earth to pay a visit, per Commander Holt's request. We need to check on their progress in preparing for imminent involvement in the war."

Keith frowned. "How exactly does this concern me?"

"I spoke to Kolivan just now, and he cleared you for a bit of vacation time with the paladins. I know you don't have any family waiting for you there, but sometimes a visit to home can be nice."

Keith shrugged. "Okay, I guess I'll go. It'll give me more time to spend with Pidge."

Pidge grinned. "I can finally introduce you to my parents! I'm sure they'll love to meet my fiancé."

And so it was decided that the paladins plus Keith would pay a visit to Earth. Meeting with Pidge's family was a nice experience. Keith was welcomed with open arms and warm hugs. But it became apparent that he was kind of uncomfortable with all of the attention.

One night, Pidge knocked on his door. They had both decided to wait to do anything intimate until after they were married, so they slept in different rooms. Keith, of course, was wide awake. "Come in," he called softly, careful not to wake up anyone else in the house.

Pidge walked in, and to Keith's surprise, she was wearing a jacket and sneakers. "Hey, I have something I want to do. Get dressed for the cold and follow me."

Keith followed as Pidge led him out of the house and to the green lion, which had been casually left in the backyard. They both climbed in, Keith sitting in the co-pilot chair. "So where are we going?"

"Haven't you ever wondered if the moon landing was faked?"

Keith's face lit up, a huge grin spreading from ear to ear. "Oh, we are so going to the moon."

Activating cloaking so they wouldn't be detected by any satellites, they took off towards the moon, which was only a few moments away at the speed the green lion could fly.

Pidge decked her paladin armor and surprised Keith once more with his own set. "I snuck it out of the castle a few days ago. Suit up."

"So what exactly are we looking for?"

"Any evidence that humans have been here. Footprints, debris, that flag that was supposedly left behind. You know, anything out of the ordinary."

Keith laughed. After being in space with her for over five years, Keith was used to her blasé attitude. It was one of her endearing features, after all.

They spent the rest of the night running around the moon, coming up with nothing. They eventually just sat next to each other, looking at the Earth.

"So there's really nothing here, huh?" Keith asked.

"Not necessarily. With how quickly the moon is moving through space, it's possible that anything that was left behind was carried off into nothingness. Or NASA is really good at cleaning up after themselves. However, this was a fun adventure."

They laughed, happily enjoying the time they spent together, just the two of them.


End file.
